College So Far

So college is going really well. I am overall having a great time. Here's why:

-My roommates are great. I do things with them and they are accepting of me. It's weird being with other people my age (generally around so), constantly.
-I have made some other assorted friends in other miscellaneous classes.
-Quinten used to do MMA and has taught me some moves. Don't try pushing my left shoulder because I will put you in a chock-hold faster than you would know. Soon I'll have to register my hands as weapons. No big deal.
-I enjoy (usually), being on my own. There is a fun aspect to being solely in charge of my well-being and everything. It has however shown me that I definitely can't take anything for granted such as there being an unlimited supply of food around the house. That is something I still need to get used to.
-Overall I enjoy my classes and having a specialized schedule, not just taking a bunch of classes I don't want or need. However I can't say that I enjoy my science foundations class. Literally the second day of class there were about 5 different people arguing that Mormons are creationists the whole hour of class! Might I mention that they had this argument after the teacher specified that Mormons aren't creationists. It was annoying to say the least.
-There have been many many games of Dominion (a really fun card game), many debates about random topics ranging from technology to black holes or music theory, and rounds of Super Mario Bro. Wii. My roommates and cousin Josh are awesome. I'm glad they also embrace awesome table-top games and video games as I do.
-Living in Idaho has given me time to get to know my cousin (well second cousin), Josh Jensen. We actually didn't know we were related until last May when I visited BYU Idaho before deciding to go for this semester. I can't believe we had never met because we have much in common. He, as do I, loves Jazz, Starcraft and the frequent game of Dominion. Thankfully he knows more about jazz than me and has even started teaching me some jazz theory. It has been super helpful to my guitar playing already. Josh is great.

Things about college that bum me out sometimes:
-I miss my friends Austin and Karlee. They are super important to me and I haven't seen them from what seems like forever. I hung out with them and Tyler and Cody for the whole summer and it has been the best summer of my life. It's really hard for me to not be with them because they are who I can always be myself around. I wait anxiously for Thanksgiving for when we can all get together.
-Not only all of my other friends but I really really miss my friend Jeremy. He is honestly one of the most important people to me. We have been really good friends for a long time and it is not fun being hundreds of miles from him. Jeremy is awesome. I laugh the hardest when I'm with him and he laughs in return. We have so many inside jokes and quirks that I don't think most people would really enjoy being around us and might even call us weird but I don't care because he is great.
-I miss my family, my home, and Moosey. It's fun being alone and its super weird at the same time. I really miss coming home, having Moosey getting excited to see me, being able to sit down, relax, etc. My current schedule involves not coming home until later due to doing homework in the library or coming home and locking myself away in my room...doing homework.
-I also really miss some of my old church leaders. Brother Boswell and Brother Stamps are amazing and such great people. They are also really important to me because of all that they have done so much for me and helped me get through much more. Being in a ward of people all my age is really strange for me. I have grown up in youth programs that contain about 6 youth for each group at any given time. Everyone is around my age and it's weird and fun at the same time. I do find myself missing talking to some of my old leaders or being able to be familiar around old friends. I'm not anti-social but for some reason I have always been better at talking to those older than me, than my own peers.
-I'm still not used to having such a large work load. I worked a job over the summer at an oil company called Newfield working in their record keeping department. It was a great opportunity for me and worked out really well. It was never easy work and quite exhausting generally but I would come home and be done with work responsibilities until the next morning. Sometimes I would trade that for all the reading I have about geologic systems, proper grammar, global positioning systems, immunizations, and many other copious topics covered throughout my curriculum. I'm determined to transfer to BYU Provo after my mission and in order to do so, I need all A's. I know I can do it but it hasn't been easy thus far.
-I miss my mother's cooking. Denise Peterson Wood is a fantastic cook. Her pies, roast beef and bread rival even my love for my fox shirt (in case you don't know, I have a shirt with a fox on it. It is amazing). I haven't been starving but I definitely have been starving for real food sometimes.

So that's how college is basically going so far. I just realized that the list of cons right now is larger and I don't mean to sound pessimistic because college is actually going really well. I think I just have more detail to add to the things that are making me miss the things I'm familiar with. I've been finding that I have been learning more than just academic pursuits. I've been learning to live by myself, adapt to a totally new environment, and be with totally different people. I'm excited for the future and hope to keep everyone updated on my life at BYU Idaho.